😱 'Sleepless in Seattle' is HOW old?

Hey there and happy Friday. We’re still so jazzed from last night’s party at Optimism Brewing. We had a blast hanging out with y’all and so many of the awesome do-gooders in our city. 💕

(📹: Eric Keto)

YOU'RE THE BEST, 2❤️6

It was incredible to see so many of you at our second birthday party and Evergrey Giving Guide launch last night. We’re so grateful that we could party, munch on cake, and make silly faces with y’all in person.

Now for some special thank-you’s…

Shout out to Chelsea Lin for baking us a delicious chocolate cake to ring in our second year of sharing Seattle’s story, and to Giuliana Isaksen for a sweet surprise toast to everything we’ve done together.

Kudos to all our partners who brought their A-game to making experiences around the spirit of giving. Some highlights: Ring toss with FareStart, chair massages and tamales with Intentionalist, and the scavenger hunt with Foundation.

Big ups to Tim Tan for taking amazing pics all night and Patrick Siu for snapping so many gorgeous headshots for our attendees.

All the high-fives to each and every one one of you who shows up for The Evergrey community — and in turn, Seattle — in ways big and small. More than 40 of you wrote postcards to yourselves with pledges of how you will give back to your city this season. And the care you show for the place we live gives us life.

Finally, all the gratitude to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for making our Giving Guide project, and this event, possible. 🙏

NOW HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON IN YOUR CITY

Need help recycling? Here are some handy guidelines from city officials: 1) No plastic in the compost, 2) No food in the recycling, and 3) No food or recycling in the garbage. Those’ll be on the updated recycling fliers Seattle homeowners will get in February. (Apartment and condo-dwellers got ‘em this fall.) Those come on the heels of China’s ban on importing unclean U.S. recyclables — and local waste management orgs want to help us up our recycling game. Not sure which bin that container or plastic bag goes in? Remember this mantra from KUOW: “When in doubt, leave it out.” Or check out our Seattle recycling hacks here. ♻️ (KUOW)

Get schooled. The education levy Seattleites passed earlier this month had a huge price tag — but it has a big perk for graduating high schoolers. Over seven years, high school grads can get two years of community college for free. The levy will start helping grads from Ingraham, Garfield, Chief Sealth, Cleveland, Rainier Beach and West Seattle high schools next year. And more graduating seniors will be covered by the program in 2020. 🎓 (The Seattle Times)

How Alexa got a big (fishy) mouth. A developer named Brian Kane first hooked his Alexa up to a Big Mouth Billy Bass in 2016. The company that makes the singing fish eventually noticed and made Brian’s creation an actual thing you can buy to amuse (or terrify?) your friends. 🐟 (GeekWire)

This might make you feel old. Sleepless in Seattle, the movie that made the world swoon in the ‘90s, just turned 25. 😱 If it were a person, it’s now old enough to rent a car. Shock aside, the film that’s inspired countless tourists to flock to the Emerald City over the years is back in theaters on Sunday and next Wednesday, so grab tickets while you can. How’s that for a #FlashbackFriday? 🍿 (TODAY)

Here's What's Coming Up

Partner Events

💋 Tuesday, Dec. 4: Discuss how we romance in turbulent times at this Foundation event all about sex, relationships, and dating in 2018 (Capitol Hill)

🌎 Thursday, Dec. 6: Tackle global challenges and learn how you can help build a more equitable world at the annual Global Washington Conference (Downtown)

🇺🇸 Thursday, Dec. 6: Join the conversation about reforming the places we live and building an equitable future for urban America with Evergrey cofounder Mónica Guzmán and Town Hall Seattle. (Capitol Hill)

🎄 Saturday, Dec. 8: Celebrate the season of giving with Foundation and Seattle Works’ holiday party (Ballard) 🆕

Around Town

TODAY🎟 Hum along to a theatrical ode to the composer who gave us The Nutcracker (Downtown)
🎶 Howl with laughter at this musical parody of Die Hard — through Dec. 23 (Green Lake)

TOMORROW🎈 Take the fam to make crafts with indigenous artists (Downtown)
🛍 Check off your holiday shopping list at this community craft market (Rainier Beach)
💡 Learn the story of U.S. xenophobia from Japanese internment to the Muslim ban (First Hill)
🛍 Peruse aisles of handmade goods at Urban Craft Uprising — through Sunday (Queen Anne)
🏞 Wear running shoes and festive gear at this run supporting homeless women and kids (Fremont)
🎈 Travel back in time with your fam at this Victorian Christmas festival — through Sunday (Puyallup)
🎈 Welcome our big, water-bound neighbors at this orca parade (West Seattle) 🆕 — thanks to reader Emily Crawford for the tip! “My friends have volunteered to DRESS UP IN ORCA COSTUMES to lead this parade!” Emily emailed us. “It’s going to be SO FUN!”

SUNDAY

🛍 Check out zines and pick up new, local music at the Vera Project (Queen Anne)
💡 See glowy lights and learn Seattle’s holiday history — through Dec. 30 (Downtown)
🎈 Take the fam to see Santa at the Space Needle — through Dec. 24 (Queen Anne)

Going to one of these? Take us with you! Email a pic to [email protected] or tag#theevergrey on Instagram. Learn what our emojis mean here, see more upcoming events on ourevents page, and add your own events with an Evergreymembership. Is an event sold out? Hit reply to let us know and we’ll update the listing in tomorrow’s newsletter.

WE’RE GOING BIGFOOT HUNTING

Our coworker Bigfoot is out and about again — can you find him? 🔍 The challenge: Figure out where in Seattle Bigfoot is hiding based on our clues and his surroundings in today’s Facebook live video.